Valve mechanism



G. A. LONG VALVE MECHANISM Feb. 6, 1940.

Filed July 11, 1938 Patented Feb. 6, 1940 orrlcs a:

VALVE'MECHANISMjYi Gebrge- A. Lan

Bostdii;Mass.

Applicationt'July'jll; 1938,3iSer'ial:'No*..218;493-- 4 Claimsn .o (01.B l -104)..

upper-*end' portion 'of the extension I I a at right This inventionrelates to valve mechanisms i and more especially to improvementyinvalve mechanismsfor'toilet fiushing'tanks. I

The Object of the invention'is' to provide anzw 'improvedvalve"mechanism of the class' describe'd which will be of simple;'efficientand compact construction and which will automaticallyf'con-fi trol thesupply of water to a tank -or ioth'erreser- V0ir-S0"as' tomaintain asupplyiof water therein at a predetermined levels To these ends I haveprovided 1 an improved valve mechanism 'having' the' construction "andmode ofoperation set -forth in the followingde scription, the" severalnovel 'featurespfthe in vention'being separatelypointed out and definedin the claims at-the" close thereof; 1

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional-View 0f *atoilet flushing I tank provided with my-improved; valve mechanism; I

Fig; 2 is a side elevation ofthe'"upper portion of the valve mechanismshown-ri-n Fii l.

Fig: 3 is a vertical sectional view (:Ifthe upperportion'of the-valveme'chanism shown in -1 with 'thei valve of saidl mechanism in its operrposition;

In the-embodiment of my*invention"illustrated inthe'drawing, I0represents a tankwhiclif'as" usual; may be provided at its bottom with"avalve" controlled outlet which! is not shownin the drawing but which isconnected with "the toilet"" fixture that is to'be 'fillShBdz A verticalstand -pipe' II extends thiough'an aperture formed inth'e'bo'ttomwall-"of tank--10 and at its upper end'is "provided with a tubularextension Ia. Atits "lower end-the extension I Ia is reduced india'ineteryas atI 2, and exterior 1y threaded, said" threaded-portionbeing screwed" tightly into the upper end' of 'the'standpipe-"I I iwhich is interiorlythreaded t'oreceive'it." With in the tubularextension I Ia is slidably mounted the stem I3 of a conical valve l4;said valvebein'g. connected withsaid stem by a neck I5 of reduced. r.diameter so as .to providesa ,conduitiorrport at the "lower end of whichv.is provideda conical seat I1 for the valve I I.

Adjacentto its-upper end and atone side thereof the stem I3,is made witha rectangular notch I8 which provides opposed spaced-apart shoulders I9and 20. Within the notch I8 and cooperating with the shoulders I9and 20thereof is a radial tooth 2| formed upon an otherwise cylindrical plug22 which is rotatably mounted within a hole 23 formed transverselythrough the angles with the 'axis of stem 13.

At its one end the plug 22Cis provided-with a radial arm 2 4 while theopposite endof said plug is formed with a transverse aperture'to"receive acottehpinorthe like-'25; 7 As will? be clear; thisthreadedportion screwed a small block'26." This block is formed with twoholes extending therethrough one of which is threaded to'receive ythe-arm'M and the-othe'r of which is occupied' by the middleportionof abail-shaped link' ZT'by Whichs'aid-BIockQB 'is connected with-a sleeve28 thatds slidaloly' mounted upon. :the extension I la; 1' The sleeve 28extends downwardly through-a spheroidal sheet metal shell 29 f to whichit is fastened by' solder-or otherwise' as at '30 so as to provide ahermetically sealed-air space'within said shell. Thusthesle'eve 28 andshell 290n= stitute a floatelement 'that is 'slidable 'up andthu's-moved said element acts throughlink- 21 and arm24"'torotative1yadjust plug 22 and the tootlr' '2l of the latterserves-i30 shift 'the Valve" As showrr; theinterior diameter-0fthe'upper end-portion of sleeve 28'is such as to slidably fit thstan'dpipe H"I Ia while the interior diameter of the lower portion ofsaid sleeve is greater than the' -outside diameter-- of said standpipe"soas 'to 'provide awater delivery conduit 3I between the two thatis openatits lower end. Adjacent to -its lower end the standpipeextension "I Iais foI rrxed -with' four radial ports 32 whose inner endscommunicatewith the port I6 and whose outer ends communicate-with conduit 3|."

The lower'end of the tubular standp'rpe extension--IIa pr-'ojects belowthe valve seat I1 in the f0r'm*-0f a nipple33 who'se lower end isinteriorly threadedto""-receive-, within it an" exteriorly threadedclosure plug- 34. This pIug' may; as sho'Wn'in Fig'B, serve as a stop tolimit the: down and -fioa t is lin'i'itedhy the engagement of the valvewith seat H. The plug 34 also serves to prevent the valve from fallingdownwardly through pipe section I I should it be necessary to tion I! sothat an annular passageway 35 is provided between said nipple and thestandpipe section I I through which water is free to pass from thelatter to four radial ports 36 formed through the nipple 33 opposite theconical valve Id.

The lower end of the standpipe section II is adapted to be connectedwith a supply of water under head or pressure and when the float andvalve occupy their lowermost positions, as shown in Fig 3, water flowsupwardly through standpipe section I to the ports 36 and thence throughthe ports I6 and 32 into the conduit 3| provided by the sleeve 28. isforced downwardly through the conduit 3| and discharges from the lowerend of the latter into the tank It. As will be clear, the buoyancy ofthe float 29 will cause it to rise as the water level within the tank Itrises and this upward movement of the float is assisted by the reactionof the water that is discharged downwardly under pressure through theconduit 3|. Therefore, the float 1-.829 can be'made heavier than wouldbe the case in the absence of this reaction which is an advantage whenthe float descends by gravity to open the valve 3|4--|E against the heador pressure of the Water within the standpipe section II.

As the water level within tank l0 reaches the point illustrated in Fig.1 the valve is closed.

When the contents of tank ID are discharged through the usual outlet,not shown, the float descends by gravity and acts through the link 2?and arm 24 to rotate the plug 22 in a direction to open the valve. Theleverage through which the float operates plug 22 is about ten to oneand in practice I have found that a flea. fit-29weighing about one poundand with a shell of about the dimensions illustrated in Fig. 1, issufiicient to act through said leverage to open valve M, which is about'flve-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, against the usual head orpressure found in water systems.

The opposite ends of the bail-shaped link 21 are sprung into sockets3'1, Fig. 2, provided at opposite sides of sleeve 28 and when it isdesired to vary or change the effective lengths of we arm it the twolegs of link 2'! may be sprung outwardly so as to disengage them fromsleeve 22 whereupon the block 26 is free to be rotated to adjust it onarm 24 toward or from the plug After such adjustment the two legs of thelink 27 are re-engaged with the sockets 31.

From the above description it will be clear that I have provided a valvemechanism of the type described which is very compact and does notrequire very much space laterally. That is, the tank can be made so thatits width upon the interior thereof is only slightly greater than theoutside diameter of the spheroidal shell 29.

What I claim is:

l. A valve mechanism of the character described comprising a fixedlysupported standpipe to which water under head or pressure is supplied.said standpipe being provided upon its in ,terior with a valve seat; avalve within said standpipe cooperating with said seat to control theflow of water through said standpipe; a float surrounding and movablymounted upon said From the ports 32 the waterstandpipe so as to providea downwardly directed delivery conduit surrounding said standpipe; avalve-operating member rotatably supported by said standpipe andengaging said valve, and means through which up and down movement of thefloat on said standpipe acts through said member to operate said valve,said standpipe being made with a port through which water is deliveredinto said conduit from the interior of said standpipe when said valve isopened by downward movement of said float.

2. A valve mechanism of the character described comprising a fixedlysupported standpipe to the lower end of which water under head orpressure is supplied, said standpipe being provided upon its interiorwith a valve seat; a valve Within said standpipe cooperating with saidseat to control the flow of water through said standpipe, said valveopening downwardly against the pressure of the water within thestandpipe; a float surrounding and movably mounted upon said standpipeso as to provide a delivery conduit therebetween; a valve-operatingmember rotatably supported by said standpipe above said float andengaging said valve, and means through which up and down movement of thefloat on said standpipe acts through said member to operate said valve,said standpipe being made with an outlet above said seat through whichwater is delivered into said conduit from the interior of said standpipewhen said valve is opened by downward movement of said float.

3. A valve mechanism of the character described comprising a fixedlysupported standpipe to the lower end of which water under head orpressure is supplied, said standpipe being provided upon its interiorwith a valve seat; a valve disposed axially within said standpipe andc0- operating with said seat to control the flow of water through saidstandpipe, said valve opening downwardly against the pressure of thewater within the standpipe and having an upwardly extending stem formedwith a notch at one side thereof; a float surrounding and movablymounted upon said standpipe so as to provide a downwardly directeddelivery conduit therebetween which is closed at its upper end; avalve-operating member rotatably supported by said standpipe above saidfloat with its axis disposed at right angles to the axis of said valve,said operating member being made with a relatively short radial toothoccupying the notch of said valve stem and also with a relatively longradial arm; and a link connecting the outer end of said arm with saidfloat through which and said arm up and down movement of the float actsto rotate said member thereby'to operate said valve, said standpipebeing made with an outlet disposed above said seat through which wateris delivered into said conduit from the interior of said standpipe whensaid valve is opened by downward movement of said float.

4. A valve mechanism of the character described constructed inaccordance with claim 3 wherein a stop is provided for limiting theopening movement of said valve.

GEORGE A. LONG.

